Courses - Ladino Studies At The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Ladino Courses 2006-2007 UNDERGRADUATE LEVEL
	27651 Ladino (Judezmo) for beginners 2.0 hours 4 credits Prof. David M. Bunis Fall-Spring Semesters Tuesday 16:30-18:15 An introduction to the fundamental elements of phonology, grammar, syntax and lexicon of Ladino (Judezmo) – the traditional language of the Sephardic Jews of Medieval Spain, the Ottoman Empire, and parts of Western Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. Through the reading of selections from Ladino folklore and modern literature, students also acquire a familiarity with the society and culture of Ladino speakers, from the Middle Ages to the present.

	27751 Ladino (Judezmo): A Structural History of the Language 1.0 hours 2 credits Prof. David M. Bunis Spring Semester Tuesday 14:30-16:15 Ladino has its origins in Medieval Spain and the interaction of Jews with their Hispanic and Arabic neighbors. Following the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 and their emigration to the Ottoman Empire, parts of Western Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, the varieties of Ibero-Romance they brought with them developed into a unique, independent Jewish language, often known as Judezmo in the Ottoman regions and Ḥaketia in North Africa. The course examines the structural evolution of this language – its sound system, grammar, syntax, and lexicon – using the tools of descriptive and historical-comparative linguistics, and the sociology and psychology of language.

	27685 From Spanish to Judeo-Spanish: The Formation of a Jewish Linguistic Variety 2.0 hours 4 credits Dr. Aldina Quintana Fall Semester Sunday 16.30-18.15, Tuesday 14.30-16.15 Taking as an example Judeo-Spanish, the course will describe the external and internal processes involved in the transformation of a non-Jewish language (like Old Spanish) into a Jewish language. Among the subjects to treated in the course are: an introduction to Jewish languages; the process of formation of Judeo-Spanish in the sixteenth century; special characteristics of its writing and spelling systems in the early period (sixteenth-eighteenth centuries); the process of koinéization; the social functions of Judeo-Spanish in relation to Hebrew, their mutual contact, and the process of judaization of Judeo-Spanish; its contact with the local languages (Turkish, Arabic, Greek and others); and the diffusion of Judeo-Spanish from the cultural centers to the peripheral communities.

	*29499 Judeo-Spanish Super-Texts: Coplas, Romansas, Biblical Commentaries, and Haggadah Parodies* 2.0 hours 4 credits Dr. Aldina Quintana Fall semester Sunday 14.30-16.15, Tuesday 08.30-10.15 In the literary creation in Judeo-Spanish we emphasize several genres by their quality as well as by their own characteristics. In the lyric poetry the Coplas and the Romansas occupy a special place, just as Biblical commentary excels among the prose genres, as does parody that imitates the Passover Haggadah. The purpose of this course is to introduce the students to these Super-Texts and acquaint them with their origins, their literary and linguistic characteristics, and their social function in the Sephardic communities of the Ottoman Empire and North Africa. Intended for third-year B.A. and M.A. students.

	27680 Folksongs and Contemporary Creativity in Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) 1.0 hours 2 credits Dr. Michal Held Spring Semester Monday 16:30-18:15

	27681 Introduction to Popular and Written Literature in Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) 1.0 hours 2 credits Dr. Michal Held Spring Semester Monday 16:30-18:15

	27683 Sephardic Jews in the Holocaust: Expressions in Popular and Written Literature 1.0 hours 2 credits Dr. Michal Held Spring Semester Monday 16:30-18:15

	33734 Sephardic Communities: Identity and Fate 1.0 hours 2 credits Dr. Michal Held Spring Semester Monday 16:30-18:15

	276-- Tutorial in Ladino Studies In consultation with a faculty member, students engage in an independent project culminating in a research or seminar paper. Place and time to be arranged with the advisor.

	Recommended from the Department of Musicology: 23839 Music in the Islamic Countries 1.0 hours 2 credits Prof. Edwin Seroussi Fall Semester Tuesday 16:30-18:15

GRADUATE LEVEL
	27809 Ladino (Judezmo) in the Responsa Literature of the Ottoman Sephardic Rabbis 1.0 hours 2 credits Prof. David M. Bunis Fall Semester Monday 16:30-18:15 From the sixteenth century and into the modern era, queries addressed to the Sephardic rabbis of the Ottoman Empire on matters of Jewish law, together with their responses, were published in collections printed at the Jewish presses of Constantinople, Salonika, Venice, Izmir and other major Sephardic population centers. From this literature one can learn much about the acclimation of the Sephardic immigrants within Ottoman society, and about the ways in which they and their descendants coped with a myriad of problems which arose in their everyday lives. The dominant language in the responsa collections is Rabbinic Hebrew; but they also contain numerous passages in Ladino, the everyday ethnic language spoken and written by the majority of the Ottoman Sephardim into the modern era. The course will examine representative selections in Ladino appearing in Ottoman responsa collections from the sixteenth through twentieth centuries, and how they shed light on the Ladino language in its historical development, and on the unique culture which developed among the Sephardim of the Ottoman Empire.

	27810 Ladino (Judezmo): Linguistic Analysis of Folk and Satirical Texts 1.0 hours 2 credits Prof. David M. Bunis Spring Semester Monday 16:30-18:15 For over half a millennium the Jews of Spain and their descendants produced a rich literature in Ladino, using diverse linguistic registers and literary varieties. Some of these registers and varieties — e.g., those used in the translation of sacred texts, and in original rabbinic compositions on Jewish law and ethics — differed significantly from the everyday language of most of the speech group. The registers and varieties used in folk and satirical literature, however, incorporated many features of the spoken language, in its complex regional and social variation. The course will examine this literature as a source on Ladino as spoken and written among the popular sectors of Sephardic Jewry in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

	27811 Ladino (Judezmo) and Turkish: Jewish-Turkish Linguistic Encounters in the Ottoman Empire 1.0 hours 2 credits Prof. David M. Bunis Spring Semester Monday 14:30-16:15 The arrival of the Iberian Jews in the Ottoman Empire following their expulsion from Spain and forced conversion to Catholicism in Portugal marked the beginning of an intense interaction between the Jews and the peoples and languages of the empire which lasted for half a millennium. The most important and influential language of contact was Ottoman Turkish, the administrative language of the empire and the language of its leading ethnic group. The course will examine the encounter between Ladino speakers and the Turkish language. The discussion will be based on primary materials in Ladino, Rabbinic Hebrew, and Turkish in Hebrew characters, and will focus on the nature of the Turkish spoken and written by the Sephardim of the Ottoman Empire, their attitudes toward that language, and the ways in which it left its mark on the ethnic languages of the Ottoman Sephardim — Ladino and Hebrew.

	278-- Tutorial in Advanced Ladino Studies In consultation with a faculty member, advanced students pursue an independent project resulting in a research or seminar paper. Place and time to be arranged with the advisor.

Ladino Courses

2006-2007

UNDERGRADUATE LEVEL

276-- Tutorial in Ladino Studies